Award-Winning

At the Van Ness station platform on a recent morning, three men wearing Muni uniforms stood alongside others waiting to board the next light-rail vehicle, chatting among themselves. The moment an inbound, two-car J-Church train arrived, the men broke off their conversation and methodically entered through different doors — one at the front of the first car, the second at the rear of the same car and the third at the rear of the last…

For four years, William Masone, a laid-off social worker for San Francisco who relies on Social Security disability checks, lived in a 10- by 12-foot unit at the single-room-occupancy Winton Hotel among cockroaches, bed bugs, mold and many other hazardous conditions. But he wasn’t exactly in a place where he could risk eviction by making complaints about the Tenderloin home to someone on the outside. Masone’s requests to building management resulted in a few pest…

Chris Hayashi, head of San Francisco’s taxi industry during arguably its most tumultuous times, told The San Francisco Examiner on Thursday that she would step down from her post June 20. The tall, hard-to-miss, curly-haired blonde took over as deputy director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Taxis and Accessible Services Division in December 2008, a time when the industry was in dire need of reform. A lawyer by trade, Hayashi, 51, maneuvered the…

Jikaiah Stevens was left with more than just massive injuries — which include permanent brain damage — after being struck by a car at a crosswalk. A $141,760.24 medical bill now follows around the San Francisco hairstylist and photographer. The driver at fault had little to no assets, so all Stevens can receive is $15,000 — the state minimum liability to cover bodily injury or death. That figure became state law four decades ago and…

Co-reported with Jesse Garnier Splashed across the screen in blindingly patriotic red and blue,the mission statement of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks opens with the four core tenets of of Elkdom. “Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity.” From the third floor of its 15-story, multi-million dollar headquarters a half-block from Union Square, San Francisco’s Elks Lodge No. 3 — the oldest in continuous operation, since 1876 — prides itself in donating hundreds of…

On a Thursday afternoon, two men — one in a lavender shirt and paisley tie, and the other in a pale blue shirt and plaid tie — stepped out of a white Ford minivan and knocked on the door of a home in the Bayview. A woman answered the door, and, prompted by their questions, revealed a laundry list of problems: she recently had been robbed and raped, and was being evicted for the $2,000…

The Golden State Warriors emerged Wednesday night with the largest season-opener victory margin in franchise history, and they did it the Hollywood way, as the Los Angeles Lakers have traditionally done unto them. Warriors co-owner Peter Guber brought “Rush Hour” actor Chris Tucker as his guest, while part-owner Craig Johnson used Halloween as an excuse to dress up as Jack Nicholson, the Lakers’ No. 1 celebrity fan. Johnson sat courtside along with a friend disguised…

Home for Gum Gee Lee and her husband, Poon Heung Lee, has been a three-bedroom apartment at 1508-A Jackson St. near Chinatown since 1979. They have raised seven children there. Now the immigrants from China and their 48-year-old disabled daughter are the only tenants remaining in the eight-unit complex. That could change in just a couple of days. As “Wednesday, September 25, 2013 6:01 AM” fast approaches, the Lees cannot ignore the “Notice to Vacate”…

David Grieshaber drove across the idea last year. As he crossed the Bay Bridge with his wife, brainstorming unique ways to build an environmentally conscious house using recycled materials, he thought: What would become of the original eastern span once the new bridge opened? Neither he nor his wife had a clue, so Grieshaber decided to call Caltrans. After being rerouted to a half-dozen representatives, he was informed that the majority of the scraps likely…

Welcome. Bienvenidos. 欢迎.

I'm a journalist based in Southern California, reporting in English, Spanish and Cantonese for The Orange County Register. My beats are the city of Santa Ana, which is the county seat, and transportation. Occasionally I write about sports. Half of my professional career has been spent in Spanish-language media. I was the first Asian reporter for La Opinión, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the U.S., and helped launch, write and produce for Time Warner Cable Deportes, the country's first regional sports network in Spanish.
My award-winning work includes series on an undocumented student whose deportation was blocked by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Latinos' struggle for political power in Compton and an evicted family who became the face of San Francisco's housing crisis. I've completed fellowships with The New York Times and Hearst Newspapers and my byline has appeared as far away as Ecuador.
谢谢. Gracias. Thank you for stopping by.